Alejandro Avila
Videos by OutKick
Even on a bye week, Tennessee Titans fans were given a reason to celebrate Monday morning with the announcement of a new $2.1 billion stadium planned to start construction in Nashville as early as spring 2023. The massive development will measure out at 1.7 million square feet and hold a fan capacity of 60,000.
For Titans fans and Nashville locals alike, the long-awaited news that the booming city would replace a city relic like Nissan Stadium was not a matter of if but when.
New Era in Nashville
Titans CEO Burke Nihill was glad to announce the new plan alongside the city and Nashville mayor John Cooper.
Nihill spoke with the team on the vision behind the new stadium, and building a blueprint for a Nashville venue, specific to the city.
“The exterior will be uniquely Nashville,” the Titans CEO noted. “One thing that will be different about this building and any other NFL facility is its location. It will be in a central part of the city, it will be surrounded by a beautiful neighborhood and beautiful parks, so the exterior of the building will respect that location and will use materials and features that make it a very special and uniquely Nashville building.”
The project will be funded through the Titans, NFL, personal seat license sale, Metro Sports Authority and additional bonds owed between the city and team.
The Titans are dedicating $840 million through their batch of funding.
“We want it to be a modern experience. Our current facility has served our fans well for a few decades,” Nihill said. “But there is a better experience that is available by thinking about the diversity of experience.”
Nashville’s plea for a modern venue — relative to the city’s thriving tourism — will be seen with the Titans’ new project.
Big Things Coming To Nashville…
“We are trying to build the smartest building, one that can be built on budget and one that will make Nashville and Tennessee proud for decades and decades to come.”
The plan details that a domed structure will be built, which would grant Nashville eligibility to host the Super Bowl and other major events like WrestleMania.
OutKick founder Clay Travis championed the idea of updating the Titans’ venue when the team explored options in February.
“The @titans are reportedly exploring building a new stadium after bids to renovate the old stadium were massive,” Clay tweeted. “It’s time to build a dome & bring the Super Bowl, national title game, Final Four, WrestleMania & more to Nashville.”
Nashville Mayor John Cooper shared Monday how the newly announced plan presented a vastly superior option compared to spending roughly $500 million to upgrade Nissan Stadium, which would have been too costly for the taxpayer.
“This new stadium proposal protects Metro taxpayers by not spending a single dollar that could be spent elsewhere on our core priorities like education and public safety,” Mayor Cooper said.
The building of the new stadium will be the most expensive in Nashville’s history. The deal includes tearing down the 69,143-seat Nissan Stadium.
Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk voiced her support for the new plan, which she acknowledged was a concept long envisioned inside the organization.
“When my father brought this team to Tennessee 25 years ago, I don’t think he could have imagined a better home for our organization,” said Strunk.
“The way the people of Tennessee have embraced this team as their own is truly something special, and I am thrilled that with this new agreement, we will cement our future here in Nashville for another generation.”
Follow Alejandro Avila on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela
Check us out on TikTok
“… We ‘re going to build us a $2,100,000,000 stadium in order to host Wrestlemania…”
.
I betcha that sentence has never been written or uttered before anywhere EVER !!!!
I had the chance to work a few events at Nissan Stadium over the summer (BEST Crowd Management, the event staffing provider at Nissan Stadium, brought staffers from other market, including Dallas, to staff concerts and a Titans preseason game) and the venue felt outdated (of course, my main venue where I work is AT&T Stadium, so that’s an apples to oranges comparison). I’m hoping that BEST gets the contract for the new venue, because I’m really looking forward to see what Nashville does with their new domed stadium. At the very least, I’d hope that the main concourse at Nashville’s dome will be easier to navigate than the main concourse at AT&T Stadium.
The dome concept is overrated. Works well for baseball but football should be played outdoors, especially in Tennessee where the weather is decent in the fall. Raymond James in Tampa is the same age as Nissan Stadium, and we host Super Bowls once every 10-12 years and already had Wrestlemania. The only advantage for other events is the Final Four, which could already be hosted at Bridgestone Arena.
They also say it’s going to be different because it will be in the central part of the city. How is that different from Mercedes-Benz or Lucas Oil? Nissan Stadium is already a walk over the river from downtown Nashville.
Issue is not football in the fall, it is Football in the winter. Superbowls and bowl games. Nashville will never get one of those due to the chance of unfavorable weather. In addition the current stadium can only realistically be used for things like concerts for 9 months out of the year as opposed to 12 months for Domes. Then there is also basketball. Although Bridgestone can handle earlier games, the final four itself can attract more and this is the draw. Bridgestone only realistically holds about 18K, max. The final four can easily double or triple that number when held in a larger venue.
As far as the “central part of the city”, the main tourist area of Nashville (on the west bank) dead ends at the river with the Stadium just opposite on the East side. With all of the big venues right there in sight as well as the hotels, it makes Nashville a convienient fly-in, Uber downtown and walk everywhere (to tourist stuff) destination. The new stadium does not change that. Nashville is not a particularly walkable city for locals, but for tourists it can be a rental-car free destination.
In addtion the NFL has been fairly clear with the criteria–“build a Dome, get a Superbowl”. That is in play here.